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WWI. -- What were the causes of WWI? -- What were American interests in getting involved? -- Why do you think the American public did not support getting involved until so late in the war? Why would the US not want to take part?.
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WWI -- What were the causes of WWI? -- What were American interests in getting involved? -- Why do you think the American public did not support getting involved until so late in the war? Why would the US not want to take part?
US Cavalry invading Mexico in pursuit of Pancho Villa in 1916.
1913 Armory Show, Chicago$45,000 worth of paintings sold!Duchamp’s Nude descending a Staircase(or, explosion in a shingle factory)
Matisse’s work was chosen by students at Chicago's Art Student's League as the most appalling and blasphemous pictures in the exhibition. The charges brought against him were "artistic murder, pictorial arson, artistic rapine, total degeneracy of color, criminal misuse of line, general aesthetic abberation, and contumacious abuse of title“Troubled by the public’s reaction to his work, Matisse said in an interview: "Oh do tell the American people that I am a normal man; that I am a devoted husband and father, that I have three fine children, that I go to the theatre!" Matisse Goldfish and Sculpture
Meanwhile, in Europe, the press had been paying attention to the Caillaux affair. Joseph Caillaux, former premier and current minister of finance and radical socialist leader in France was accused of high crimes and misdemeanors. His wife was enraged by how the press had destroyed his career. She decided to solve the problem by buying a gun and killing the responsible journalist. When news arrived of the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Serbia, it seemed only a brief distraction from the Calliaux trial.
How did the war affect the Economy? • -- Unions • -- Wages • -- Production • -- Taxes How do you think the war affected politics?
War in Europe • In 1917, the estimated cost of the war was $3.5 billion. • Actual cost: $35 billion & 116,516 US soldiers. • 1917: US Army was the 7th largest in the world. Equipped with old weapons and only had a day and a half of ammunition in reserve. • Spring, 1917: Army + Nat’l Guard =379,000 • End of War: 3.7 million • Early summer, 1917: token American forces • March, 1918: 300,000 Americans in France • November, 1918: over 2 million! • (1,400,000 of them saw action) • 367,000 African American troops
Woodrow Wilson • Insists on “open door” to make the world safe for democracy. • 1918 – endorses women’s suffrage as vital for winning the war. (by 1917, 16 states had given women the right to vote). • Obsessive fear of disloyalty: • Espionage Act • Sedition Act • Selective Service Act • Trading with the Enemy Act • Alien Enemies Act • Alien Act
War Industries Board • Created July, 1917 to determine what materials manufacturers could use and what they could or could not make. • ~500 war service committees to oversee and represent industries. (From corsets to steel). • Price Fixing – US Grain Corp. • Food Administration – H. Hoover • Fuel Administration • Labor unions flourished during the war because of high demand for labor.
National War Labor BoardNWLB • To mediate disputes, recognize fair wages and hours, collective bargaining. • War Labor Policies Board • Set standards for federal employees
World War and the death of Progressive Party • By 1916, Progressives became extremely committed to the defense of national honor, nationalism, and opposition to Wilson. But, imperialism and militarism replaced old liberal formulas of protest, and within a year, the party was dead. • War was justified with progressive rhetoric and on progressive terms. • Discredited progressive language – morals and ideals • Guaranteed that anti-war reactions would be anti-progressive.
WWI killed 10 million in battle2 million died of hunger related to war
Efforts to save grain led to the 19th Amendment– prohibition. 1915-1918: the real income of farmers grew 30%
Tax Base • Before the war, most of the government’s revenue came from tariffs. • In 1917, the War Revenue Act was passed, imposing an “excess profits levy” as high as 60%. • Fed. Revenue went from $930 million in 1916 to $4,388 million in 1918 • The personal exemption for income tax went from 3,000 – 1,000 • Tax on earnings above $500,000 went from 7% to 77% • Thus the income tax became the most important source of federal revenues.
Women working in a shipyard, 1918 1918, the government wanted to encourage women to work on farms to keep food production up.
Wartime policies and economic changes wound up killing progressivism, even though progressives were in power. Why do you think?